West Bengal: Record 624 Covid cases in last 24 hrs, count nears 18,000

A bookseller waits for customers at College Street in Kolkata.

The state on Monday recorded the highest one-day increase in COVID-19 cases, with 624 new infections taking its tally to 17,907. This is the first time the state has recorded more than 600 cases in a day, and the third record increase in four days.

According to the health bulletin, in which figures are updated till 9 am, the toll climbed to 653 after 14 more deaths. Continuing the trend, most of the deaths (11) and infections (396) were reported from Kolkata, North 24 Parganas and Howrah, which together are the epicentre of the pandemic in the state. At the start of the month, the toll in the state was 325. Of the deaths since then, 158 occurred in Kolkata, and 132 in the adjoining districts of North and South 24 Parganas, and Howrah.

Though the state’s case fatality rate has fallen every day since June 11, declining to 3.64% Monday, it is still the third-highest among the 10 most-affected states. Only Gujarat and Maharashtra have higher fatality rates than Bengal.

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Meanwhile, the health department reported that 526 people were discharged from hospitals in 24 hours, taking the total number of recovered patients to 11,719. The discharge rate again climbed over 65%, settling at 65.44%. The active caseload, which was 4,852 just four days earlier, increased to 5,535.

According to the health bulletin, 9,513 samples were tested in 24 hours, taking the cumulative number of specimens analysed to 4,78,419. The test positivity rate rose to 3.74%, the highest till date.